Plays written by Ariel Stess:
KARA & EMMA & BARBARA & MIRANDA
I’M PRETTY FUCKED UP
HEARTBREAK
THE ONLY GIRL IN THE HOT TUB
HE ATE QUIETLY INTO THE WALL
THE LAST CLASS
Synopses:
Kara & Emma & Barbara & Miranda – (4W 1M) A play that intertwines the lives of four women from different generations and social strata in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Kara wakes up to find her husband and children missing. Twenty-year-old Emma runs away with a married man. Barbara’s ex-lover breaks into her home in the middle of the night. And the pipes in Miranda’s house burst. Through a tapestry of internal monologues and scenes, KARA & EMMA & BARBARA & MIRANDA follows the journey of four women whose major life crises collide on Christmas Eve, leading them to accidentally help each other find a way out. An occasionally off-kilter, and deeply honest play about isolation, resilience, and the healing power of community. World Premiere at The Tank.
I’m Pretty Fucked Up – (4W 4M) Ditching for the first time, Dan and his friends plan the ultimate day to remember. Back on campus, Bobby wants to kiss June, and June tries to be a good first-time girlfriend. Meanwhile, the principal and security guard attempt to lead the school through a campus-wide lockdown. Set in a small town in New Mexico on April 20th, 2000, this play follows five teenagers’ interlocking experiences on the day of a high school lockdown. World premiere at Clubbed Thumb (NYC).
Heartbreak – (2W 5M) A man’s house is fragmented when his daughter arrives from the big city to ask him for relationship advice. World premiere at The Bushwick Starr, co-produced by New Georges (Brooklyn).
The Only Girl in the Hot Tub – (4W 4M) It’s the day before Christmas Eve and all Annie wants is to make some new friends at the fitness club. Derek, maybe new friend material, wants to perform well on the first day of his after-school job. His buddy Gene just wants to make his dad, the owner of the club, proud. But, when heartthrob Ray shows up for his workout sesh, the fitness club and its operating policies get turned upside down. This dark comedy, about after-school jobs, hot-tubbing, and rape culture in a small affluent and not so affluent community in Northern New Mexico, tells the story of teens attempting to navigate the convoluted world of adults, while the adults wreak havoc on their sense of right and wrong.
He Ate Quietly Into the Wall – (2W 2M) Two strangers talk through the night about matters of consequence and matters of no importance. Meanwhile two children play in a fort in the desert, preparing for war. World Premiere at Page Salon (NYC).
The Last Class – (4W 7M) This play follows the lives of students, teachers, professors, lovers, and a stage manager as they find a way to cope in the aftermath of the great recession, an alt-right rally, and the global pandemic. Part riff on Our Town, part ode to the transformative power of community, this play tells the nonlinear story of students and teachers who help each other to survive, thrive, and re-establish their faith in humanity after that faith has been broken.
Bio:
Ariel is an Obie Award-winning playwright and a member of New Dramatists, an affiliated artist of The Playwrights’ Center, and a New Georges Affiliated Artist. Her work has been developed or produced by Playwrights Horizons, The Playwrights’ Center, Clubbed Thumb, The Bushwick Starr, New Georges, Mabou Mines, Brave New World Repertory Theatre, Rivendell Theatre, and The Lark.
Recent productions include KARA & EMMA & BARBARA & MIRANDA (at The Tank; directed by Meghan Finn; NYC; winner of the 2024 Obie Award for Playwriting). The World My Mama Raised (with Clubbed Thumb; directed by Kip Fagan; NYC), Heartbreak (with The Bushwick Starr, co-produced by New Georges; directed by Ariel; Brooklyn), and I’m Pretty Fucked Up (with Clubbed Thumb; directed by Kip Fagan; NYC).